GRUESOME images are to be used in a new Government drive to tackle the problem of knife crime.

The Home Office is planning an advertising campaign that will pull no punches.

The pictures it has chosen are shocking.

They include graphic photos showing the terrible injuries inflicted by knives.

Officials hope the campaign will frighten youths into leaving knives where they belong - in the kitchen drawer.

The adverts will be sent to social networking sites, such as Facebook and Bebo, where youths will be able to download them and send them on via mobile phones.

The campaign will last for three years and cost £3m.

But can we really treat knife crime as a social issue like smoking or drinking-driving?

Will an advertising campaign make the slightest bit of difference?

Or could it even backfire, with youngsters swapping the pictures among each other as a sick joke?

Critics claim ministers would be better off cracking down hard on offenders caught with knives amid growing public concern that criminals are getting away with soft sentences.

Possession of a knife carries a prison sentence of up to four years, but only a handful of offenders receive the maximum tariff.

We welcome any measures the Government takes to increase awareness of the devastating impact knife crime can have.

But the use of knives on our streets has reached worrying levels and an advertising campaign, no matter how well meaning, is no substitute for concerted action against the thugs who go armed with a blade.